It was the end of a long day and I was leading the crux last pitch of Book of Solemnity. I was pretty zonked and it was a long and very difficult lead for me. I had never been on it before, and was hoping to onsight.

Adding to the complexity, I had two seconds I was planning to bring up, and I was leading on double ropes. So I was putting a lot of thought into where to put gear both to protect me, and also each of the two seconds. And if any of you have done the climb, you know there are some spots on the pitch that are very dangerous for the second.

(EDITED to add that in all the pictures, the second rope is removed for simplicity.)

Anyway, I had made it to the top, clean, and was tired but happy. I thought I had set everything up perfectly for both my seconds so they would be protected at the crux, and also at the top of the climb, where there's a very tricky move just to traverse over to the belay slab.

So up starts second number one. He gets to the crux and I realize that I've done something really stupid. Here was the situation:

[IMG]http://i55.tinypic.com/zinmn5.jpg[/IMG]

I had extended myself ten feet down a steep slab from the anchors so as to be able to see over the lip and keep track of my seconds. The belay rope was going over five feet and up ten into a piece I had placed to protect the second for the final traverse move to the anchor. Well I'm sure you can see as well as I how dumb that seems. If the second were to fall anywhere on the pitch and that piece were to blow, the second would fall 20+ feet, plus rope stretch!

And, at the crux of the route, 50 feet below me, the second fell! The piece held, but I got really nervous. As the second was hanging on the rope, I decided I didn't care any more about being able to see him, I cared more about that 20 feet of slack in the rope if the piece were to blow. So I hiked myself up to near the piece, pulling in slack as I went.

Here's how it looked now:

[IMG]http://i55.tinypic.com/9sguup.jpg[/IMG]

My second continued to try the crux move, and fell several times. Each time the piece held. And then he fell and I heard the pop. There was a moment of slack and then I was flipped over backwards and dragged upside-down to the bottom of the slab.

[IMG]http://i52.tinypic.com/29c9uz5.jpg[/IMG]

He had only dropped the ten feet I'd been dragged down the slab, and fortunately it was steep below him, so he hadn't hit anything. But I felt like such an idiot. To endanger yourself, as a leader, is one thing. But to needlessly endanger your second like that is so much worse.

I sure as hell learned my lesson about directionals that day.

GO

WOO! That was me! (the 2nd 2nd... i didn't fall) Don't remember hearing about the upside down slab sliding bit though

It was the end of a long day and I was leading the crux last pitch of Book of Solemnity. I was pretty zonked and it was a long and very difficult lead for me. I had never been on it before, and was hoping to onsight.

Adding to the complexity, I had two seconds I was planning to bring up, and I was leading on double ropes. So I was putting a lot of thought into where to put gear both to protect me, and also each of the two seconds. And if any of you have done the climb, you know there are some spots on the pitch that are very dangerous for the second.

(EDITED to add that in all the pictures, the second rope is removed for simplicity.)

Anyway, I had made it to the top, clean, and was tired but happy. I thought I had set everything up perfectly for both my seconds so they would be protected at the crux, and also at the top of the climb, where there's a very tricky move just to traverse over to the belay slab.

So up starts second number one. He gets to the crux and I realize that I've done something really stupid. Here was the situation:

[IMG]http://i55.tinypic.com/zinmn5.jpg[/IMG]

I had extended myself ten feet down a steep slab from the anchors so as to be able to see over the lip and keep track of my seconds. The belay rope was going over five feet and up ten into a piece I had placed to protect the second for the final traverse move to the anchor. Well I'm sure you can see as well as I how dumb that seems. If the second were to fall anywhere on the pitch and that piece were to blow, the second would fall 20+ feet, plus rope stretch!

And, at the crux of the route, 50 feet below me, the second fell! The piece held, but I got really nervous. As the second was hanging on the rope, I decided I didn't care any more about being able to see him, I cared more about that 20 feet of slack in the rope if the piece were to blow. So I hiked myself up to near the piece, pulling in slack as I went.

Here's how it looked now:

[IMG]http://i55.tinypic.com/9sguup.jpg[/IMG]

My second continued to try the crux move, and fell several times. Each time the piece held. And then he fell and I heard the pop. There was a moment of slack and then I was flipped over backwards and dragged upside-down to the bottom of the slab.

[IMG]http://i52.tinypic.com/29c9uz5.jpg[/IMG]

He had only dropped the ten feet I'd been dragged down the slab, and fortunately it was steep below him, so he hadn't hit anything. But I felt like such an idiot. To endanger yourself, as a leader, is one thing. But to needlessly endanger your second like that is so much worse.

I sure as hell learned my lesson about directionals that day.

GO

I looked at first drawing and i am ok, redirect and then saw the second one and wtf but then the third one crack me up dude.

Once I tied my figure 8, only tieing into the loop at the leg loops, and not the one at the waist. Luckily my boyfriend who was newly returning to the sport was pretty paranoid about double checking each other, so he caught my error before I left the ground.

I've done that. Fortunately it was on a top rope. Imagine my surprise when I inverted during a very minor fall.

A bazillion years ago we were bagging some routes in Indian Cove. At the end of the day we decided to grab one last route. Once on top, and with darkness closing in, we started to look for the decent. We did a very cursory glance around and decided that there was only one possible way off. There was this horrible semi steep very loose gully about 100 feet long. We decided the best option was to get one LOUSY stopper in a very LOUSY rotten crack. We figured what the hell, one biner, a sling and a stopper are not the worse things in the world to leave behind. I set up the rappel, and just as I was starting to lean back on the anchor I saw this eight year old kid standing behind my partner asking "Hey, what are you guys doing?".

I had nearly the same exact thing happen there. I was belaying up my second, fretting over what I'd heard was an iffy descent, when this ~10 year old's head pops out above me asking if I'd seen some gear.

Bill L

P.S. I still found the descent an eye opener.

No, it wasn't there, the site was one in the lower 40's. Can't remember which site it was. They renumbered the sites after that. I have been on Apparition though, great route.

ClimbSoHigh wrote:I have a suggestion for gri gri's that I do not see many climbers do, that will help mitigate gri gri failures. Everytime I lead a sport climb, I double check the knots and set ups like most people do/should. As most posters have hinted to, even with this double and tripple check, we all get distracted once in a while and glance over things and a back threaded gri gri doesn't jump out like "dude, your not tied in" does. My advice before every climb with a gri gri belayer, is to do your check on knots, biners, belay device, and harness, then do the tug test. I simply grab my tie in (to make sure I am tugging on the right end, and to tripple check that knot after making a knot mistake years ago), walk my hands along the rope to where it is connected to my belayer, then I give it a yank to verify the gri gri is threaded correctly, and is not gummed up or frozen. It gives my physical proof the device is working and will lock in a fall before I leave the ground.

Ugh. See above for this. Stop tugging your partners.

In reply to:And for my 2 stories that come to mind...

1. A bunch of years ago I worked out the moves to my first 5.12a climb but was too weak at the end of the day to send. The next morning I ran to my climb, tied in, threw my shoes on, and started rehearsing my moves in the air while my buddy caught up and set up the belay. After a quick safty check, I was off, and flashed it. Totally psyched I clipped the quick clips, yelled take in excitement, leaned back into my harness once I felt the rope go tight, and suddenly started to invert. Shocked I quickly grabbed my rope and corrected myself, then looked down and saw that I had only tied in to my leg loop tie in (the 8 was well dressed though!). Wouldn't have decked or anything, but could have had a nasty inverted helmetless whipper into a block had I blown the final crux. I went from pure excitement and joy, to ashamed and disapointed with myself, before I even got back to the ground. So my first 12a is actually an embarasing memory, not a triumphant one, and I flashed it none the less.

Wanna make a bet that you flashed it?

In reply to:More recently really hung over, I went trad climbing with a buddy. He was on something well within his abilities, but was rehabbing an injury. Tired with a stiff neck i sat down on a natural chair that angled my head up, like I do for TR'ing often, still paying attention and locked off, but clearly not belaying as well if I was standing. My buddy got into the crux and got hung up for a minute, he looked down and yelled at me to get my ass up. I still feel embarased about this as I really should not be sitting for any belaying (although I still do for TR), nor climbing/belaying very hung over which I know plenty of climbers do even though we know we shouldn't, even the pro's do it... Just ask Jason Kruk how hangover went...) http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/...r-for-the-weekend-56 You sat down when you're belaying? That's a stupid "choice" not a stupid "mistake," which is what this thread is about.

I should really start proof reading my posts but maybee some other time. That first part, about the gri gri's, I just read the first page and a half and didn't realize that it was already discussed in depth, my bad. Most of my partners don't mind when I give them a little tug to make sure the cam is working and not slipping. I think it is important to start with my knot to make sure the right rope end is being tugged. I could easily see someone asking their belayer to yank on the rope, watching the gri gri cam up, but not realize that the belayer yanked on the brake end to lock it, hence you still have a back threaded gri gri. Since my friends are OK with me giving them a little tug, I do, and if Jay doesn't like that than I guess I'll just not climb with him. (He seems like a pretty negative person anyways. I personally like a little more than visual confirmation, since many people visually confirm things that were not set up right. I just am not as great as your perfect self but I think you have a few more years under your belt to gain skills and ego than me) I don't know why some think tugging the rope is such a big deal, since when I fall, I am tugging that rope just a tad more. I'm not dragging my friend around the base pre climb. I am OK with having my partners click their own biner tho since you can't click the wrong side.

2. Thanks for catching that, meant redpoint.

3. This is very intersting insight, I always thought every mistake was due to a poor choice. (choosing to grab shoes half way through tieing your knot, choosing to start a decent without looking further, choosing to not bring a head lamp and getting caught at night) but I agree, It was a very bad choice on my part lead belay sitting, which I believe stemmed from my practice of sitting durring TR belays. I can try to blame the hangover for it, but clearly I just was not thinking that day/belay, and ended up endangering my friend which is why I feel so sick over this choice I made. I'm happy nobody got hurt, and all I can do now is to use this experience to remind myself to extra vigilant while belaying, and if I am hungover to the point I really need/want to sit, I need to let my partner know and not belay. I guess it is better to let you buddy down by bailing, rather than be a danger while belaying.

Got me thinking about sitting for a TR belay... Can't dodge falling rock as well, can't move to position rope out of climbers way, limited range of motion. Bringing up a second though I usually try to find a good seat when possible, but then again I usually set up my belay off the anchor in autoblock. I am now currious if others elsewhere belay single pitch TR sitting sometimes, as I know many people that do where I live. Also do people ever TR belay by feel to avoid belayers neck? (just feel for the slack rather than crank your neck up all day, particularly when the climber wants a tight belay and communication is great).

Got me thinking about sitting for a TR belay... Can't dodge falling rock as well, can't move to position rope out of climbers way, limited range of motion. Bringing up a second though I usually try to find a good seat when possible, but then again I usually set up my belay off the anchor in autoblock. I am now currious if others elsewhere belay single pitch TR sitting sometimes, as I know many people that do where I live. Also do people ever TR belay by feel to avoid belayers neck? (just feel for the slack rather than crank your neck up all day, particularly when the climber wants a tight belay and communication is great).

BITD - when I learned to climb, we belayed TR from the top of the cliff. Since you frequently couldn't see the climber, you had to develop a feel. Hearing of people that have to _see_ their climber to belay properly immediately makes them a suspect belayer; they don't have what I consider to be an important skill.

So, since I'm comfortable belaying by feel, yes, I will not watch my climber full time. However, if I can see them, and they are at a sketchy point, I will certainly focus on them with multiple senses.

Yes, of course these things can be verified visually, and I think that most climbers do verify these things visually. And yet, people are severely injured or killed when "visually verified" knots or belay devices turn out to not be set up properly.

Then they weren't visually verified, were they?

this strikes me as a tautology. it's like saying, "visual verification works, therefore if it didn't work, it wasn't visual verification." if normal people look at their setup twice and still fail to perform "visual verification" because they're not thinking and are on auto-pilot, doesn't that mean it's an incomplete protocol?

maybe the problem lies with going on auto-pilot and not with the procedure, but it does happen.

Yes, of course these things can be verified visually, and I think that most climbers do verify these things visually. And yet, people are severely injured or killed when "visually verified" knots or belay devices turn out to not be set up properly.

Then they weren't visually verified, were they?

this strikes me as a tautology. it's like saying, "visual verification works, therefore if it didn't work, it wasn't visual verification." if normal people look at their setup twice and still fail to perform "visual verification" because they're not thinking and are on auto-pilot, doesn't that mean it's an incomplete protocol?

maybe the problem lies with going on auto-pilot and not with the procedure, but it does happen.

I don't want to paint a picture of me yanking my belayers all around, but I like my method because it forces one last check of the climbing system before I take off. I get one last chance to physically and visually check my knot, my rope out between me and my belayer, and the ability of the gri gri to lock as it is set up. I am cool with my belayer tugging the rope for me if they really don't want me to, but I still start at my knot, check the rope but when it comes time to tug, they can do it as I have no doubt anymore that they are pulling on the right end of the rope and visually checking it is threaded correctly.

IDK, I just really like to physically check stuff in addition to visually checking when possible, instead of just visually checking everything. Once I have set up my rappel, and double checked everything, I still weigh my rap device completely before going off direct to the anchor. Sure I can see that everything is set up correctly, but I just feel better about it when my entire weight (when possible) is on my rap device before going off direct. Just like I like to feel the take before letting go to be lowered. It just makes me feel better, and it should not insult anyone that I want to double check what they should be doing already.

A buddy asked me last fall if I locked my belay biner. I said I did and had even checked it seconds before he asked when he was not looking yet, but he asked for a click anyways. So I shot him for doubting me! "Screw you man for doubting what I said, can't you visually see the gate is locked!! Its a f-ing attache and you'd see red if I was lying you bonehead!!!"

...or in reality I took a second and clicked it for him and somehow managed to keep my ego in check. :)

So, since I'm comfortable belaying by feel, yes, I will not watch my climber full time. However, if I can see them, and they are at a sketchy point, I will certainly focus on them with multiple senses.

I feel very comfortable belaying by feel and belaying TR from a seat, and have done so for years, but my new train of thought is that these two practices had diluted my attentaveness to belaying. Sure there are situations where you have to go by feel when you can't see or hear you climber, but the fact that I sometimes choose not to watch my climber when I can hints that avoiding a little neck cramp is more important to me than the marginal extra safety to my climber. Its the fact I belay people by feel when I don't have to that I am reaconsidering. Same thing with sitting down when there is no reason not to stand.

I have a few near miss/ dangerous situation stories... though not as crazy as some on here.

I learned to set anchors at a nearby top roping area in Little Falls, NY. One of my first anchors had three legs. Two of the pieces were a bomber nut and cam. The third leg had a #4 C4 pointed DOWN in a odd crack on top of the cliff. When I rappelled down the vibrations and bad equalization made the C4 walk down into an opening. Luckily it was just a 30 foot cliff and I went back and found a better anchor configuration.

Another time I made a kinda sketchy anchor at the Gunks. I had topped out on Horseman about 10 feet right of the tree most people anchor to. The only gear I could get in near me was a pink tricam. I ended up wrapping a bight of rope around the tree, tying a figure-8 and clipping that to the tricam and belaying from there. I was worried about taking a 10ft pendulum off the cliff so i sat down and braced my feet against two rocks. Turns out there was a colony of ants right there too... :(

Yes, of course these things can be verified visually, and I think that most climbers do verify these things visually. And yet, people are severely injured or killed when "visually verified" knots or belay devices turn out to not be set up properly.

Then they weren't visually verified, were they?

this strikes me as a tautology. it's like saying, "visual verification works, therefore if it didn't work, it wasn't visual verification." if normal people look at their setup twice and still fail to perform "visual verification" because they're not thinking and are on auto-pilot, doesn't that mean it's an incomplete protocol?

maybe the problem lies with going on auto-pilot and not with the procedure, but it does happen.

You're criticizing a minor point I was making. Like I said earlier, a "yank check" of the grigri should always be performed, but by the belayer, not the climber.

Jay

thanks Jay. my concern was that the climber should also be able to check the grigri in an effective way, but I missed where you said that you ask your belayer to tug the rope. visually verifying that your belayer did indeed tug the rope is probably sufficient!

I've generally left it up to them to check the grigri however they see fit, and just ask something like "grigri good?" I don't like telling my friends how to do things they already have a system for, but it's probably a good idea to suggest that.

despite the potential rudeness of tugging your belayer, it does have the advantage of making sure the grigri is threaded on the correct side of the rope. do you do anything special to check this? (I thread it by following it from the tie-in, but I'm all for improving things.)

despite the potential rudeness of tugging your belayer, it does have the advantage of making sure the grigri is threaded on the correct side of the rope. do you do anything special to check this? (I thread it by following it from the tie-in, but I'm all for improving things.)

I look at it. I check to make sure my end is coming out of the end of the grigri that the hinge of the lever (that round thing) is on. Also, if the grigri locks up when the belayer tugs the rope, then the grigri is threaded correctly.

Within my circle of climbing partners we have evolved a system whereby the climber looks at the belayer when he is ready to start climbing, and when he makes eye contact, the belayer "yank checks" the grigri and pushes on the gate of the belay carabiner so that both partners know that it is locked. If a new partner doesn't do these two checks upon eye contact (many do—apparently there is convergent evolution), I'll ask them to.

Within my circle of climbing partners we have evolved a system whereby the climber looks at the belayer when he is ready to start climbing, and when he makes eye contact, the belayer "yank checks" the grigri and pushes on the gate of the belay carabiner so that both partners know that it is locked. If a new partner doesn't do these two checks upon eye contact (many do—apparently there is convergent evolution), I'll ask them to.

My partner and I go through a ... ritual I guess. We stand and face each other. Assert he is climbing and I'm on belay.

He says, "Climber". (I check his knot and harness. I reach out to his harness grab the rope and place it in the Gri-Gri or ATC while he watches. We do a pull test.) I say, "Belayer". (He checks my harness and again inspects the device.) He says: "Climbing". He checks his own knot. I say: "Belaying". I check my knot and device. He says: "On Belay?" (He pulls against the device.) I say: "Belay is on." (I pay out slack for him to start.) He says: "Climbing" (Checks the area, the fall line, etc...) I say: "Climb On" and I move in to a protected stance away from the fall line.

It's highly pedantic but he was the instructor that certified me as a belayer at my first gym. That's the ritual they make you go through and when we went outside I asked him if we could keep doing it that way. He was fine with that and now it's just automatic. We do the whole thing in less than 10 or 15 seconds and we haven't effffffed up a climb yet.

Bar-none he has been the best rope-mate I've had. I've climbed with lots of people but he and I shared the same thoughts. We both just kind of connected that way.

We always climb even on TR with one sling and one draw just in case we need it. We always have 2 devices each just in case we drop one from 1000 feet up. He's done that. He had a spare. I laughed at him and short roped him up this slabby 5.6 (just a side-note).

Within my circle of climbing partners we have evolved a system whereby the climber looks at the belayer when he is ready to start climbing, and when he makes eye contact, the belayer "yank checks" the grigri and pushes on the gate of the belay carabiner so that both partners know that it is locked. If a new partner doesn't do these two checks upon eye contact (many do—apparently there is convergent evolution), I'll ask them to.

Jay

+1

same here... my belay device is even on a carabiner that shows red when unlocked and I still push on the gate to show the climber it is in fact locked... if I don't, they ask me to...

with a grigri, I'll grab the rope and lift it up to visually see that it is threaded the correct way. I do that as a climber and as a belayor, too, just to be consistent. If my belayor holds the rope up for me to see then that is fine for me.

I have reached over to check that a locker is locked before. I don't like doing it, but I've had partners who I've asked if it was locked and they simply said "yes." Often times I'll ask again as if I didn't hear them, and if they still don't physically check with their hand squeezing the gate, I'll slowly begin to reach over. Most often this will cause a reaction where they reach down and do it themselves, but there was once when I checked and...it was unlocked.

So even though I don't like to do it, I don't have a problem doing it if my partner hasn't shown to me that it is locked.

with a grigri, I'll grab the rope and lift it up to visually see that it is threaded the correct way. I do that as a climber and as a belayor, too, just to be consistent. If my belayor holds the rope up for me to see then that is fine for me.

I have reached over to check that a locker is locked before. I don't like doing it, but I've had partners who I've asked if it was locked and they simply said "yes." Often times I'll ask again as if I didn't hear them, and if they still don't physically check with their hand squeezing the gate, I'll slowly begin to reach over. Most often this will cause a reaction where they reach down and do it themselves, but there was once when I checked and...it was unlocked.

So even though I don't like to do it, I don't have a problem doing it if my partner hasn't shown to me that it is locked.

I give my belayer a complete pat-down before I climb. In addition to checking the belay device, biner, and harness, I want to make sure that they are not concealing any drugs or weapons. You can never be too safe, IMHO.

with a grigri, I'll grab the rope and lift it up to visually see that it is threaded the correct way. I do that as a climber and as a belayor, too, just to be consistent. If my belayor holds the rope up for me to see then that is fine for me.

I have reached over to check that a locker is locked before. I don't like doing it, but I've had partners who I've asked if it was locked and they simply said "yes." Often times I'll ask again as if I didn't hear them, and if they still don't physically check with their hand squeezing the gate, I'll slowly begin to reach over. Most often this will cause a reaction where they reach down and do it themselves, but there was once when I checked and...it was unlocked.

So even though I don't like to do it, I don't have a problem doing it if my partner hasn't shown to me that it is locked.

I give my belayer a complete pat-down before I climb. In addition to checking the belay device, biner, and harness, I want to make sure that they are not concealing any drugs or weapons. You can never be too safe, IMHO.

with a grigri, I'll grab the rope and lift it up to visually see that it is threaded the correct way. I do that as a climber and as a belayor, too, just to be consistent. If my belayor holds the rope up for me to see then that is fine for me.

I have reached over to check that a locker is locked before. I don't like doing it, but I've had partners who I've asked if it was locked and they simply said "yes." Often times I'll ask again as if I didn't hear them, and if they still don't physically check with their hand squeezing the gate, I'll slowly begin to reach over. Most often this will cause a reaction where they reach down and do it themselves, but there was once when I checked and...it was unlocked.

So even though I don't like to do it, I don't have a problem doing it if my partner hasn't shown to me that it is locked.

I give my belayer a complete pat-down before I climb. In addition to checking the belay device, biner, and harness, I want to make sure that they are not concealing any drugs or weapons. You can never be too safe, IMHO.

with a grigri, I'll grab the rope and lift it up to visually see that it is threaded the correct way. I do that as a climber and as a belayor, too, just to be consistent. If my belayor holds the rope up for me to see then that is fine for me.

I have reached over to check that a locker is locked before. I don't like doing it, but I've had partners who I've asked if it was locked and they simply said "yes." Often times I'll ask again as if I didn't hear them, and if they still don't physically check with their hand squeezing the gate, I'll slowly begin to reach over. Most often this will cause a reaction where they reach down and do it themselves, but there was once when I checked and...it was unlocked.

So even though I don't like to do it, I don't have a problem doing it if my partner hasn't shown to me that it is locked.

I give my belayer a complete pat-down before I climb. In addition to checking the belay device, biner, and harness, I want to make sure that they are not concealing any drugs or weapons. You can never be too safe, IMHO.

with a grigri, I'll grab the rope and lift it up to visually see that it is threaded the correct way. I do that as a climber and as a belayor, too, just to be consistent. If my belayor holds the rope up for me to see then that is fine for me.

I have reached over to check that a locker is locked before. I don't like doing it, but I've had partners who I've asked if it was locked and they simply said "yes." Often times I'll ask again as if I didn't hear them, and if they still don't physically check with their hand squeezing the gate, I'll slowly begin to reach over. Most often this will cause a reaction where they reach down and do it themselves, but there was once when I checked and...it was unlocked.

So even though I don't like to do it, I don't have a problem doing it if my partner hasn't shown to me that it is locked.

I give my belayer a complete pat-down before I climb. In addition to checking the belay device, biner, and harness, I want to make sure that they are not concealing any drugs or weapons. You can never be too safe, IMHO.

Josh

I'm not convinced that's what that was, considering your grin.

Was that a big bro in your pocket or were you just happy to see me?

If it was the size of a big bro then it was a big bro. Indead if it was even noticable, there was something in his pocket.

I have reached over to check that a locker is locked before. I don't like doing it, but I've had partners who I've asked if it was locked and they simply said "yes."

This would bother me. When my climber turns around to ask if I'm prepared, I honestly don't know if I verbally respond. I show them. Yank the gri-gri, squeeze the gate. They assume I've already checked myself, and what they really want is too see for themselves that I'm ready.

I have reached over to check that a locker is locked before. I don't like doing it, but I've had partners who I've asked if it was locked and they simply said "yes."

This would bother me. When my climber turns around to ask if I'm prepared, I honestly don't know if I verbally respond. I show them. Yank the gri-gri, squeeze the gate. They assume I've already checked myself, and what they really want is too see for themselves that I'm ready.

yup, I want to see for myself that they are, in fact, ready. verbal communication isn't always good enough for me.

with a grigri, I'll grab the rope and lift it up to visually see that it is threaded the correct way. I do that as a climber and as a belayor, too, just to be consistent. If my belayor holds the rope up for me to see then that is fine for me.

I have reached over to check that a locker is locked before. I don't like doing it, but I've had partners who I've asked if it was locked and they simply said "yes." Often times I'll ask again as if I didn't hear them, and if they still don't physically check with their hand squeezing the gate, I'll slowly begin to reach over. Most often this will cause a reaction where they reach down and do it themselves, but there was once when I checked and...it was unlocked.

So even though I don't like to do it, I don't have a problem doing it if my partner hasn't shown to me that it is locked.

I give my belayer a complete pat-down before I climb. In addition to checking the belay device, biner, and harness, I want to make sure that they are not concealing any drugs or weapons. You can never be too safe, IMHO.

Josh

I'm not convinced that's what that was, considering your grin.

Was that a big bro in your pocket or were you just happy to see me?

If it was the size of a big bro then it was a big bro. Indead if it was even noticable, there was something in his pocket.